You probably already know about Connect Four. It is also known as Four in a Row. It is a game where a player takes turn to insert a coin and the goal is to lineup 4 coins in any direction: Horizontal, Vertical or Diagonal. The game comes with features like Timer, Pause option, 3 level of AI opponent difficulties, Top 10 and more. You can also choose play with an AI opponent (Computer) or with your friend.
Please note: If you have problems trying to start Connect Four, you may not have necessary runtime to run it. You can download required file from here [external link].
Visit Forums to read, post about using Connect Four as well as provide suggestions or report bugs.
History
About Connect Four
Starting the game
Enter your name. Click on the color box to choose your color. (Default: Blue) Select whether you want to fight with Human or Computer
There are 3 computer levels. Easy, Medium and Hard. Click 'Start!' button to begin
Playing the game
Click on the arrows to insert the coin. You can pause the game by pressing a button at the bottom left corner or press Ctrl + P.
Please note that you have the time limit for each turn. See the progress bar at the top right corner. The program will make a beep sound when the time is running out. If the time runs out, it will be the opponent turn. When someone wins, the program will flash the row in red 3 times so everyone can see how that person wins.
Connect Four will record your scores into the Hall of Fame automatically for you. This information will be saved on your computer.
About AI (computer) opponent
I programmed AI by myself and this is the first time I created an AI and a vast amount of time was spent on it to make it as intelligent as it is right now. As good as the AI itself it, it is possible to win. Poonyatorn, a veteran Connect Four player had been testing this game since the early days of the development to improve its intelligences. How ever, even with the latest build stills have many weaknesses. Even now, I still would like to make it a better AI, but the codes are just more than I can handle right now. May be someday I will re-write it.
I personally feel that this project has been one of my programming achievement, and as far as I can remember this is the first program I created that uses Visual Basic.
Alternatives
There are many Connect Four programs out there. If you are interested in other various ones, you can visit another great Connect Four program here: http://hem.passagen.se/peters/fyrad/